


There Are No Restaurants

by reliquiaen



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 09:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5492006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reliquiaen/pseuds/reliquiaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And they can't walk into town for a date. Because it's a sky-ship. It flies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Are No Restaurants

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xairathan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xairathan/gifts).



It’s a slow process. Perhaps it starts in that elevator. Perhaps it begins with Shinji (though she doubts it). Or perhaps it starts in the desert. Perhaps it begins when she sees how Rei struggles towards a sense of independence.

Truly, it could begin any number of times; in any number of ways. But somewhere along the line, something… changed. _She_ changed.

Maybe it begins as simply as a knock on a door.

It is the first thing to prompt Asuka to look up from her book in the last… oh, two hours perhaps. She looks around slowly, wondering why someone would come looking for her this morning. She’s slightly more surprised to see Rei’s profile through the glass pane set into the wood. Rei, who she looks forward to seeing now.

Rei isn’t looking in at her, oddly enough, but stands sort of turned away, a strange little crease between her brows as if she were thinking hard. The expression tugs a smile onto Asuka’s lips. It is enough for her to slip her bookmark between the pages, stow the tome in her bag and stand.

Asuka has just about reached the door before Rei even notices her approaching, and when realisation does dawn the frown reverses into a look of mild shock. Almost it seems as if she hasn’t been expecting Asuka to notice her. And that just makes her smile widen.

“Hello, Rei,” she begins politely, slinging her bag across her shoulder. “Did you need something?”

A moment of silence passes during which Rei blinks once and her features relax into something vaguely reminisce of fond. “It’s nearing midday,” Rei informs her, tone bordering on stiff. “You often neglect meals.”

“A lunch invitation?” she queries, laughter lacing her voice completely by accident. Rei nods once, sharply, though her shoulders tense as if she isn’t quite sure what protocol says is acceptable. “Sounds wonderful.”

Before Rei can step away from her, Asuka loops her arm through her friend’s elbow. While Rei could in no way be considered a fan of contact, Asuka has slowly been wheedling her way into making it a natural occurrence. This time, Rei only shoots her a brief glance of confusion before going along with it.

“Would you like to get food from the kitchen and eat on forward deck?” Asuka asks her companion softly.

Rei hums. “The cafeteria is closer.” She pauses, evidently weighing something up before she adds, “And less blowy.”

Asuka’s smile tilts wryly. “How thoughtful.”

This time, Rei offers her a quizzical look. The kind of look that conveys her sense of confusion wonderfully; it reminds Asuka that she can be astoundingly oblivious at times. It’s an adorable face. One day, Asuka is determined that Rei will truly embrace her emotional freedom, but until then this is fine.

“Is the cafeteria not acceptable?”

Asuka squeezes her hand. “It’s fine. Come on.”

Despite the fact that their lunch hours lined up nicely most days, the base is often fairly quiet. Even now, pushing past midday, very few people are about. The cafeteria is almost completely empty, all the tables vacant. Except for a single fellow sitting in one corner, face buried in table full of papers, too busy to even glance their way. The large dining hall looks quite bizarre with so few people in it. Unnatural.

The moment Asuka takes to look around the hall is all it takes for Rei to slip her arm free and picks a table by the big windows, sliding slowly into a chair before turning to look expectantly at Asuka.

Carefully, Asuka sinks down across from her, the small smile from before flickering again. “So are we going to get food now or later?”

Rei glances fleetingly at the clock on the wall. “It’s not open for another six minutes.”

She bobs her head, watching Rei’s face intently. “You came to get me early? Why?”

“Just in case you were busy. It’s better to be early than late.”

“Right. So how was your morning?”

A shrug is the only response Asuka gets to that for at least thirty seconds. Then, “I suppose it was acceptable.”

“Do you have anything important to do tomorrow?” she continues, electing to ignore the previous unhelpful response. Rei had never been much of a conversationalist. Though she’d be damned if she didn’t try.

Rei nods again, her expression… odd. Her gaze is so intense as she studies Asuka’s face, but there’s something beneath that, something confused. It’s a face Rei has worn a great deal since they left the desert and arrived at WILLE’s base. Asuka has long since decided it’s her ‘sorting through this emotion stuff’ face. Knowing that, she waits patiently while Rei figures out what it is she wants to say.

It happens to be, “Not particularly, I don’t think,” that Rei mutters. The confusion hidden behind her eyes isn’t audible in her voice, but Asuka has spent enough time with her to know there’s more she wants to say. But she probably won’t.

So Asuka smiles a little more brightly. “That’s good. I don’t have anything pressing to do either. Perhaps we could take tomorrow off? Maybe do something relaxing.”

Rei dips her head slowly, a hesitant sort of agreement, though it’s possible she doesn’t fully understand the sentiment. “If you would like,” she murmurs, though it sounds almost like a question.

“I would,” Asuka confirms, tilting her head a little to fix Rei with a more intent stare. “But would you? What do you want?”

For the first time since they sat down, Rei looks away. Only briefly, no more than a few seconds, but long enough that Asuka knows she isn’t sure what that is. She reaches out across the table to lay her hand gently across Rei’s folded ones.

“It’s okay, Rei,” she assures her. “You _are_ allowed to want things.”

Rei’s jaw tightens momentarily and then she’s meeting Asuka’s eyes again. She doesn’t speak, just stares at Asuka. So they sit there, in silence, just watching each other. Asuka gets the distinct impression that the entire time, Rei is wrestling with something. And even though there’s a twisting feeling in her stomach pushing her to help, Asuka doesn’t really know what Rei needs. Perhaps the silence will do. She hopes it will.

“Hey!”

Rei closes her eyes slowly, and Asuka looks up to find Mari hurrying towards their table. A big smile is plastered across her face, though as she takes in what she’s seeing, it turns teasing. Dismay clenches suddenly in Asuka’s stomach.

“You know, I’ve never seen you here before the cafeteria opens, Asuka,” she says, stopping by her chair.

“Rei reminded me to eat,” she explained, glancing at her friend. Rei is now watching Mari, an obvious wall having gone up, all potential emotions quashed.

“Uh huh,” Mari sing songs. “That sounds about right.”

Asuka narrows her eyes slightly. “What does that mean?”

Mari shrugs, but there is still a little glimmer in her eyes. “Oh nothing. Just that you’re here before everyone else… having a little chat. It’s cute.”

While Asuka struggles to find a response to that, Rei blinks at Mari, that adorably thoughtful frown back in place. “Cute?” she asks. Which is in itself an oddity.

Mari’s eyes remain on Asuka, completely ignoring Rei. So Asuka repeats Rei’s question. “Cute how?”

“Oh just… going on a date in the cafeteria. This is how school kids do it, right? A date on their lunch break? Definitely cute.”

Asuka feels her face bunch up, though she’s not sure if it’s embarrassment or frustration. She’ll assume the latter. “Lunch breaks are only an hour long. And it’s not as if there’s anywhere else to go, you do realise.”

Mari tuts. “Excuses.”

“Like you’re one to talk anyway,” Asuka retorts. “Miss ‘We’ll Have A Picnic In The Vegetable Gardens’.”

“You’ve wounded me,” Mari laughs, clapping a hand to her chest. “That was a clever plan and so not the point.”

“What is the point then?” she sighs.

With a sigh, Mari rests her hand on Asuka’s shoulder. “The point is… you’re on a date and it’s cute. Sakura’s been wondering how long it would take for ages. Glad I can report back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mari,” Asuka huffs, looking over at Rei who is watching her with a contemplative expression. “This is hardly a date.”

Mari scrunches up her nose in a moment of false thought. “Yeah. It kinda is.” She offers another smile, still pointedly avoiding looking at Rei. “But I’ll leave you to your not-date. Sorry to interrupt.”

“No you’re not.”

As she steps away, heading for the exit, Mari simply laughs. Asuka rolls her eyes at her back. And when she turns to face Rei once more, she finds her friend still examining her. That’s what it is, not merely _looking_ , Asuka is being _examined_.

For a moment, she’s convinced Rei will say something about Mari’s words. Instead she says, “The cafeteria is open now if you’d like to get food.”

Asuka nods, somewhat relieved. “Yes please. Maybe we can go up to the viewing deck to eat.”

“Why?”

She shrugs, standing. “Just for something different. It’s quieter up there. And not blowy like the forward deck.”

Rei’s eyes flick towards the entrance to the eating hall where a few others are starting to trickle in. “That might be… nice.”

“Alright then.”

They were quiet as they cross the hall to the cafeteria where the windows have been opened. An array of cold sandwiches sit on display inside the window along with some fruits and salads, beside the window is a refrigerator full of various drinks. Rei collects a plate from the bench before grabbing a sandwich and an apple. She’s waiting silently by the fridge when Asuka finishes selecting her salad and fruit. Or rather, Rei is staring absently through the glass door of the fridge as if picking a drink will be the hardest thing she does all day.

Without asking her, Asuka pulls the door open and grabs two bottles of water. She raises an eyebrow at Rei who just smiles slightly. She takes that as an affirmative and heads towards the door, Rei following closely.

They make it to the first staircase leading up to the viewing deck before Rei spoke. “So what’s a date?”

Asuka just about drops her plate at the question. “I’m sorry?”

Rei is frowning at her plate. “Mari mentioned it. She said that’s what we were doing. What is it?” Her voice is soft, clearly worried about what it meant.

“Oh.” Asuka doesn’t speak again until they reach the top of the last set of stairs. They pause briefly to look out the floor to ceiling windows that make up the walls the entire length of the corridor. Through the windows is the testing room. Unit-08 hung on the suspension where a few repairs were being made though there were no people down there at the moment. It’s much but it is by far better than staring at the endless blue through the external windows.

Asuka sits down on the hard floor, back against the wall. A moment later, Rei joins her, legs folded neatly. She doesn’t prompt Asuka or even remind her of the question, but the look Rei casts her way is enough.

“A date…” she trails off, not sure how to even begin explaining that. “It’s um… It’s when two people who like each other… uh… They do things together.”

Rei blinks. “Like how you and Mari eat lunch sometimes?”

She just about chokes on the forkful of salad in her mouth. “No,” she splutters. “Not even a little. That’s because we’re friends.”

“What’s the difference?”

Asuka manages to swallow her food this time. “Um… well, there are different kinds of liking people, I guess? You can like someone as a friend and like someone as a… date?”

“You seem unsure of this,” Rei notes.

“I’ve never been asked to explain it before.” She stops to push her salad around on her plate for a moment, thinking. What is the best way to explain this? She isn’t sure. “It’s like… when someone makes you feel really nice and you want to do things with them.”

“Okay,” Rei agrees, bobbing her head.

“I’m sorry I can’t explain that better.”

“It’s alright. I think I sort of understand.”

Admittedly, Asuka is stunned to hear that. “Really?” she asks, unable to conceal her surprise.

Rei nods her head again. “I think so. It’s… warm. In the stomach.” She seems to have finally settled on that word. _Warm_.

It’s… not an inaccurate word, Asuka decides as she watches Rei. She’s struck by a sudden sense of fondness. And when Rei’s mouth curls up into that soft smile she feels the warmth twist pleasantly somewhere below her diaphragm. Her lips tilt up in a smile, a subconscious and unavoidable reaction.

“It feels like this,” Rei whispers, tearing her eyes away from Asuka before speaking. Her jaw tenses again once the words are out of her mouth. Perhaps she regrets saying it.

But then Rei turns back and there’s determination in her eyes, a conviction that takes Asuka’s breath away. And yes, it does feel like this. It robs her of her voice, clogs her throat, and sends a shiver across her shoulders. The fact that Rei vocalised this emotion just makes it all the more forceful.

“Yes,” she finally manages. “Yes it does.”

Rei continues looking at her for a quiet second. Then asks, “But what is a date? What does it entail?”

Asuka’s smile widened. “I don’t know. Could be anything.”

“Anything?”

“Well not anything. I hardly think a large battle counts as a date. A long walk across a desert definitely doesn’t.” She says the last with a soft laugh.

“But lunch does?”

“Yes. Or dinner.”

“Or… relaxing?”

“Definitely.”

Rei pauses, turning over the new information. “That’s not particularly helpful. Is this a date? Mari said it is.”

This time, Asuka worries that she might’ve blushed a little. How awful. “I suppose it could be.”

Rei sets her plate – now empty – aside and reaches across the space between them to wrap her fingers around Asuka’s hand. This too surprises Asuka as contact initiated by Rei is quite rare. Though she’s not quite stunned enough to freeze entirely, so she turns her hand over and threads their fingers together. Rei eyes her quizzically but doesn’t say anything.

“Only if you want it to,” Asuka finally adds.

“I think… I think I do,” Rei murmurs, her voice nearly inaudible. “And perhaps… we could do this again?”

“Definitely,” Asuka assures her, smiling so widely her cheeks hurt. “We can definitely do that.”

A crease flashes across Rei’s brow for no more than a second. “Though perhaps next time… We could avoid Mari.”

Asuka laughs, louder than she’d expected. “Yeah, alright. That sounds nice.”

Rei nods again, and this too is decisive.


End file.
